AMD phenom II X4 940 Runs Hot

[klsmith259]

I just recently purchased an AMD phenom II X4 940 (running at stock speed, no overclocking). Checking the temperatures with the stock hsf and Arctic Silver 5 it idles anywhere from 45-50c. Using Core Damage to Stress Test it after 3 minutes it is already up to 60c. Around the 5 minute mark the temperatures are in the low 70's. I've reseated the heatsink twice and I am still getting the same results. Room temperatures are around 24C and it is in an Antec p180 case. I've disabled in the bios the Cool N' Quiet feature and in AMD overdrive the fan speed is Automatic and it is spinning ~2000rpm.

Checking temperatures I've used AMD Overdrive, HWMonitor, and Core Temps.


I've read that the stock cooler should be more than adequate for running stock speeds. I've also read where people are idling at around 45c or lower but also their full load temperatures are not near as high as mine. Did I happen to get a bad processor? Are the sensors possibly messed up? Does anyone have any suggestions? I've only had it for a few days and I should be able to RMA it.

 

[AdioKIP]

I have a Phenom II 940 and my temps were around the same as yours with the stock cooler. I was idling around 54 and maxing in the high 60's. (Usually stopped the stress test in the high 60's to avoid damaging processor as this is above its operating range). I tried a few aftermarket coolers that dropped me a few degrees before finally getting a Xigmatek S1283 cooler. This dropped my temps down to the low 30's idle and maxing in the high 40's after a few hours of prime95 stress testing.

Having a case with good airflow is important. I went thru 3 cases before settling on an Antec 1200. While the case didnt make as drastic a difference as the cpu cooler it did help.

 

[sid_nag17]

i too had the same temps !!

check in your bios whether you adjusted the voltage settings or not and try running it on a lower volt.

and get an aftermarket cooler. my temps now are 40c idle and with prime 95torture test its around 53c @3.4 ghz .

i am using ocz vendetta 2 and it does a solid job!

 

[sid_nag17]

and my room temp is around 30c

 

[klsmith259]

Thanks for the responses! Before you guys posted I went ahead and got the xigmatek S1283. I was debating between it and the zalman 9700. I decided on the xigmatek because it had good reviews and it also came with a really long usb cable for free (needed for printer) and it was cheaper. Voltages are at normal and i'm going to try to keep it that way. I turned up the stock heatsink to full speed and I am idling at 44C with my case fans on low. If I turn them to high it drops a bit as well and my room is 23-24C. I'm sure once I get the xigmatek the temps will be much lower. I'm not sure how people are idling at 35C on the stock unless they have a lot of air flow going through their case and its like a refrigerator in their place.

 

[sid_nag17]

exactly i once read in a review the cpu idling at 22c with room temp of 21c!!!!????

it just goes beyond me!

 

[AdioKIP]

You'll be happy with the Xigmatek and the egg is great, I've now gotten 3 free 15ft USB cables and they come in handy.

Sid_nag was right when he mentioned the voltages. In my Bios if I leave the voltage on "auto" the processor would pull about 1.4v volts, when I manually set it to 1.35v everything still worked fine and my temps dropped a degree or two...

 

[klsmith259]

I just wanted to update you guys after I received my xigmatek cooler yesterday (Its HUGE). I installed it with some Arctic Silver 5 and it is idling at ~34-35C. At one point it was as low as 32C. I think the stock cooler would have been fine after finding out the bios CPU temperature reporting was not changing. It is always stuck at 40C regardless and the CPU fan was not speeding up when it was getting warmer. I turned off Cool N' Quiet and also the Smart Fan for it and the Stock cooler was idling 40-42C before installing the xigmatek. I've also ordered an Ultra Kaze 120mm cooler (133CFM) to push more air through the p180 case in hopes to cool it a little more than it is now.

Core damage after 3-4 minutes had the CPU at 45C and not going much higher after more time.

The egg is great. I've been ordering from them for a long time.

 

[sid_nag17]

whats your room temp??? and if u wanna reduce temps furthur try running at lower volts manually im currently running at 3.34 ghz (215*15.5) 100% stable at 1.264 volts and its idling at 38c now!!! try it there maybe some bsod's but eventually you'll find a sweet spot

 

[klsmith259]

My room temps are between 24 and 25C. I'm not as worried about the temperatures as I was before. Mine is not overclocked in any way. In a normal use load it should not get above 40C I believe. I was thinking I could have waited until I received the Ultra Kaze 120mm fan and put it on the heatsink instead but the normal fan should suffice. The only reason I do not try it out is the rubber fan mounts were a HUGE pain to get into the fan mounting holes.

 

[jasbeaumont]

Just thought i would add my findings on here. Mine idles at around 31c and playing games gets up to around 41c-43c and im using a Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler . Volts are at 1.35 and the cpu is running at 3.4mhz, could overclock more but to be honest i dnt really see the point as it does everythign with ease at the moment. Other things to note maybe are that im using an Antec 900 gamingcase but with all fans set on low......Room temps at the moment are probably between 16-19c at an evening when im on the computer.

 

[gewone]

First, I must say I'm quite glad I found this post. All I've come across is posts where people are showing off with values like idle 2x degrees Celcius whereas load temp never goes beyond 40-something. I have an Phenon X4 945 w/ stock heatsink/fan. It's running at stock speed (no OC) 3GHz. I hate noise, so first thing I did was to enter BIOS and enable Q-fan and set the profile to "Silent". Now the stock fan is spinning at ~2000rpm (instead of ~3000rpm, as with Q-fan disabled; constant full speed).

Now, my idle is around 40c, with prime95 torture (blend mode) it won't take many minutes before I'm up at 64c. However, it stops there. 64-65c, but it didn't go any further, I was away eating and stuff, but no further sky-roof.

Anyways, I don't have any additional fans (ie. 120mm's for air in/out from tower), just to keep a low-profile when it comes to noise, so I guess my temperatures aren't so bad after all.